


Why Are We Still Helping With Your Daughter's Homework?

by slashmania



Series: 50 Thousand Words (from October to December!) [4]
Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: Arthur's got a favorite person who isn't Cobb, Cobb's come back!, Eames just can't stand this stuff, M/M, back again?, guess who's back?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-10
Updated: 2019-10-10
Packaged: 2020-12-07 18:00:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20980064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slashmania/pseuds/slashmania
Summary: "Glad to see you're awake, Arthur," Cobb said with the amount of brashness that made it obvious he could care less if Arthur was actually napping or actually having a moment with Eames. "I'm sorry to bother you about this-"Eames snorted. "Now you're sorry?""-but Phillipa needs a little help from you.""And Eames?" Arthur asked."That's negotiable," Cobb said quickly.Eames openly glared at Cobb for this. "It's like I'm not even standing here."





	Why Are We Still Helping With Your Daughter's Homework?

**Author's Note:**

> Wow between the depression and just learning my apartment building has termites, I'm just glad I've gotten anything at all done!
> 
> Day Four: Insanity  
1,389 words

"No."

There was a sound. It was the sound of a box of donuts being pushed along the surface of Eames's desk. Eames was set against moving or opening his eyes- he wasn't going to fall for this again. He was tired, he'd only intended to close his eyes for a second, and how in the ever loving fuck did Cobb come in without making a noise? Or without triggering an alarm? If the man hadn't spoken and broken the peace of Eames's 'I'll close my eyes for just a minute, just for a little bit before we begin our next project that thankfully has nothing to do with Cobb's daughter' break, it was likely he could have entered the warehouse, robbed them, and left the donuts and coffee to bewilder Arthur and Eames. Instead, Eames was wondering why Arthur hadn't at least _threatened_ to shoot Cobb yet.

"But it's just another little step, and Phillipa would be so grateful!"

"Why hasn't Arthur shot you yet? You walk in, quiet as a mouse, then try to force us to do another job for your child- we did what we said we would, we even put in some extra time to get it done right, now let us recuperate so we can go back to our real-life day jobs." And then Eames looked up at Cobb, pointedly ignoring the offering of donuts and coffee. "We finished what you wanted last week, and we've only just finished another job!"

Cobb raised his eyebrows and said, "Why don't I just ask Arthur?"

Eames narrowed his eyes. "Have a seat, Cobb. I'll talk to him myself."

Since the threat of _bother Arthur and die_ was already heavily implied, Eames only pushed his chair away from his desk and moved to the couch Arthur had gone and laid down on once they'd been back at the warehouse for ten minutes.

Eames made it to the couch but didn't attempt to wake Arthur immediately. They'd known each other and worked with each other for long enough to get a sense of this type of thing. There was a way to approach a sleeping or drowsy coworker. There was a way to approach a sleeping or drowsy coworker who had a enough training to knock a man out and then roll over to go back to sleep. And Eames was still learning ways to approach Arthur...but Cobb was there, obviously staring holes into the back of Eames's shirt, so there wasn't a point in dawdling.

"Hey, darling, I'm sorry to bother you but your favorite person has come by to ask a favor. Again." Eames spoke to Arthur, who had already been laying on his back on the couch, one arm covering his eyes because he was next to the window that got all the morning sunlight and despite the shade being in place, the light always managed to sneak through.

Arthur grumbled something to himself before answering. "Yes, you can use my ink cartridges, Eames. But buy me more at Office Depot with all the Fischer job money you pretend to have wasted away."

Eames paused. He would have spent a minute thinking about why Arthur had focused on ink cartridges, but maybe it was because Eames had run out of them yesterday when he was trying to print something? Yes, he'd used up his own, and then Arthur said something-

But Eames was already not caring about whatever Arthur had said the day before about ink. Was Arthur dreaming or did he actually think of Eames as his favorite person?

"Am I really your favorite, Arthur?"

Arthur opened his eyes slowly, focused on Eames, who tried to not look eager for an answer (though he sort of was), and then Cobb ruined what could have been a moment by inflicting his presence on them.

"Glad to see you're awake, Arthur," Cobb said with the amount of brashness that made it obvious he could care less if Arthur was actually napping or actually having a moment with Eames. "I'm sorry to bother you about this-"

Eames snorted. "Now you're sorry?"

"-but Phillipa needs a little help from you."

"And Eames?" Arthur asked.

"That's negotiable," Cobb said quickly.

Eames openly glared at Cobb for this. "It's like I'm not even standing here."

"Cobb, I'd greatly appreciate it if you stopped being such an ass to Eames." Arthur used the moment of stunned silence from Cobb to stretch and get into a seated position on the couch.

“Yes, you’re my favorite, Eames.”

Eames was basking in that pleasant comment from Arthur and didn’t want to ruin it by doing anything as juvenile as sticking his tongue out at Cobb.

"Here Arthur," Cobb cheerfully said! "I've brought you some coffee."

And that bastard handed Arthur the espresso that _Eames_ had gone to get him after they'd both got into the warehouse, both mentioned feeling a little sluggish, but Arthur had opted to take a bit of a rest on the couch, giving Eames the opportunity to go and do a nice thing for Arthur!

Arthur took the cup, looked at the name written on the side in sharpie, and frowned at Cobb.

"Stop trying to take credit for the nice thing Eames did. He's still my favorite, you know. And he's the only one who would have the poor barista write _Stick In The Mud_ on the cup."

Eames wasn't sure whether Cobb took Arthur's acceptance of the cup as the go ahead to continue talking or was just that motivated to get them to help his daughter one more time. Cobb just began explaining it to Arthur.

* * *

"She couldn't just use her imagination to draw little pictures of us? She couldn't just recall what _you_ look like since you've been around her forever?"

Arthur shrugged. "According to Cobb, everyone she interviewed was asked to sit for ten to fifteen minutes while Phillipa asked them questions about their jobs and work experience, all while she drew cute pictures of them. Apparently he had to do it too."

Eames grumbled to himself. "Serves him right. Trying to steal the espresso I got for you."

"And that was very nice of you, thank you so much for doing it."

"And trying to bribe us with more coffee and donuts."

"That complaint would be more believable if you weren't eating one of those donuts right now."

And so Eames was. He looked at the half-eaten maple bar, put it back on the napkin he'd grabbed when he resolved to get one donut from the box, and then noticed he'd have to wash his hands before touching near Arthur's laptop.

Arthur cleared his throat and politely offered a Kleenex Wet Wipe.

Eames took it and thanked Arthur.

"I'm just telling you that this is insanity."

"I get it," Arthur replied, picking up the nearby trash can and lifting it so Eames wouldn't have to try and toss the used hand wipe, likely miss, and then have to get out of the chair and pick it up.

"Do you really, darling? It seems like you'll do almost anything for Cobb and his kids, but this level of dedication seems almost insane...no offense."

Arthur glanced at Eames, decisively adjusted Eames's collar, used his thumb to wipe away a fleck of maple glaze that lingered at the corner of Eames's mouth, and then nodded. "None taken. We'll just politely get through this. We'll Skype with Phillipa, she'll get everything she needs, and hopefully Cobb will not come back to bother us about this again."

"You're aware that I can still hear you, right?" Cobb called from a chair that was well out of way.

"Keep quiet, Cobb, we're about to start!"

Eames was feeling nervous about Skyping with Cobb's offspring. Of all the things he could possibly be nervous about! He was sitting so close to Arthur, he'd been given a last minute once over and touch up by Arthur.

Eames was half-certain that he was nervous because he didn't know this child and only had stories about her mother, and first hand experiences with her father to go on what she might be like.

"Hey," Arthur said, knowing after a second that Eames was having some difficulty with this. "She's a great kid. At least half of her is Mal, and she was lovely."


End file.
